Homeless charity Crisis has announced plans to become a not-for-profit landlord, purchasing one-bedroom homes in London and Newcastle from 2026. The organisation says it aims to buy over 1,000 properties within ten years, offering stable housing to people experiencing homelessness — a move that could subtly reshape parts of the private rented market.
Crisis enters rental market as housing pressures deepen
The charity, founded in 1967, has traditionally provided support services rather than housing directly. But its new model will see it own and manage homes for the first time, citing what chief executive Matt Downie called a “severe shortage of genuinely affordable homes.”
“From 2026 onwards, we will, for the first time in our nearly 60-year history, start the journey to becoming a not-for-profit landlord,” Downie said. “We’ll begin by buying one-bedroom homes in London and Newcastle… with a goal of reaching 1,000 homes over the next decade.”
He added that decades of policy changes, welfare cuts and underfunded local authorities had “left people on the lowest incomes trapped in a cycle of homelessness.”
Crisis estimates that 300,000 families and individuals in England are now facing the most extreme forms of homelessness, including rough sleeping and long stays in temporary accommodation.
Implications for landlords and rental affordability
While the move is widely seen as socially driven, it has potential implications for private landlords, particularly in high-demand urban markets. The charity’s acquisition strategy could add much-needed affordable stock — but it also reflects how the private rented sector is struggling to meet demand.
Downie acknowledged the difficult balance for landlords trying to house low-income tenants: “Rapidly rising rents are leaving people on low incomes locked out of the private rented sector. The freeze on housing benefit is making it harder for landlords to rent to people who can’t cover the shortfall.”
Crisis has long worked with private landlords through its Housing Access Programme, helping tenants secure and sustain tenancies. According to the charity, those partnerships have delivered “thousands of good homes” to people in need, but the worsening supply picture has forced the organisation to take direct ownership.
Collaboration with letting agents and housing specialists
The initiative builds on an existing three-year partnership between Crisis and the TDS Charitable Foundation, which funds five Housing Access Specialists across Merseyside, Newcastle, Oxford, Birmingham and South Wales.
These specialists act as intermediaries between landlords, letting agents and tenants — supporting new tenancies with benefit claims, rent management and wellbeing advice. By formalising this model through property ownership, Crisis hopes to guarantee long-term stability for tenants who would otherwise be excluded from the market.
For landlords, however, the move underscores a policy failure: the shortage of affordable housing is now so acute that charities feel compelled to fill the gap. Without incentives to retain or expand private rental stock, landlords argue, the system will remain unbalanced — with fewer homes available and rising pressure on rents.
Editor’s view
Crisis’s entry into the landlord market is both symbolic and pragmatic. It highlights how chronic underinvestment in affordable housing is forcing the third sector to step in where government and private investors are constrained. But the question remains — if even charities are buying up rental homes to fix policy failures, what message does that send to landlords trying to operate sustainably in today’s market?
Author: Editorial team — UK landlord & buy-to-let news, policy, and finance.
Published: 11 November 2025
Sources: Crisis, TDS Charitable Foundation, ONS, HomeLet
Related reading: What the Renters’ Rights Act guide means for landlords
